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Ancient aqueducts and air-raid shelters

Beneath Naples stretches a city carved into tuff stone, shaped over centuries to meet the most practical needs of urban life: collecting water, connecting spaces, extracting materials and providing shelter.

Ancient Greco-Roman aqueducts, cisterns, cavities, tunnels and air-raid shelters tell the story of an underground Naples different from the sacred world of the catacombs or the archaeological dimension of buried cities.
Here, the underground becomes infrastructure, resource and civic memory: a hidden system that supported the growth of the city and later became a refuge during the bombings of the Second World War.

From the Galleria Borbonica to Napoli Sotterranea, and the route of the LAPIS Museum, this section helps visitors navigate places that are often confused with one another, yet distinct in origin, function and narrative.

A journey into the most tangible and profound side of Naples, where the tuff stone still preserves traces of water, labour and everyday life.

More from  Beneath Naples

Catacombs, aqueducts, shelters and underground routes beneath the city Naples is not only discovered by looking up at domes, palaces and panoramic views. Below street level lies another city: silent, layered and unexpected. Early Christian catacombs, ancient Greek-Roman aqueducts, tuff quarries, air-raid shelters, Bourbon tunnels and archaeological routes tell very different stories from different periods. Not every underground site is the same: some were created for faith, others for water, protection, survival or urban transformation. Beneath Naples is a guide designed to help visitors understand these hidden worlds, know what they are actually visiting and choose the experience that best fits their journey. An invitation to descend into the city’s deeper heart, where every stone holds memory and every passage reveals a new way to read Naples.
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Catacombs and hypogea

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Underground archaeological sites